These BLADES rules are in addition to the Yahoo! Sports rules. You are expected to learn them and abide by them. Ignorance of the rules will not be accepted as an excuse. This league is publicly viewable and aims to be family-friendly. The BLADES and its commissioner reserve the right to add to this list and/or modify any existing rule at any moment for the good of the league.

1. No manager shall use the name of a real NHL or other professional/minor league team for their team name. Names of famous people, characters and works are also prohibited. Anything copyrighted will be rejected.

2. No vulgar terms or language shall be used in whole or in part as a manager’s team name or manager name.

3. Team names shall not be changed once the regular season commences. You may experiment with as many name changes as you want between the time you sign up, right up until the time of the first official games that count in the standings. At that point, the one you choose will be the one you keep all season. ONCE THE SEASON STARTS, ALL TEAM NAMES WILL BE LOCKED.

4. Team logos/avatars must be family-friendly and are subject to the same criteria as rule #2.

5. Good-natured trash talk will be allowed within reason but must be kept rated PG-13.

6. Any manager who neglects his/her team for an extended period of time risks losing their franchise and could have the team assigned to a new manager at any point during the season or at the very least, the following season. Examples of neglect include but not limited to; not responding to trade offers, not editing lineup regularly, not responding to league e-mails, etc. If you are going on vacation, please edit your lineups for the time that you will be away.

7. Draft positions will be determined by the final playoff finishes, not the regular season standings. Teams will select in reverse order of how they finished in the Championship round (THIS EXCLUDES THE CONSOLATION ROUND - see RULE #8 ). This means that the league champion is the last team to draft in the 1st round of every season, the runner-up selects second last, etc.

8. The #1 overall draft pick will be assigned to the team that finishes first in the consolation round (7th place overall). The #2 draft pick would go to the 8th place team, etc. The team that finishes last (16 team league) would have the #8 overall draft pick. The exception to this is Rule #9.

9. In the event that this league should expand by one or more teams, the new expansion team(s) shall draft first in the draft selection of its first season. The remaining order of the draft will be as usual once all expansion teams have selected their draft picks. An expansion team is defined as a team having not existed the previous season.

10. Managers will be allowed to select 6 players from their roster to keep for next year’s roster. Managers are only allowed to keep 1 goalie. The remaining 5 players can be any number of forwards and defencemen. Managers may also choose to not keep a goalie and select an extra F or D. If a manager fails to select any keepers after the pre-determined deadline has passed, the commissioner reserves the right to select the keepers for that team.

11. Should there be any team whose manager does not return, the Commissioner reserves the right to take over the team temporarily until a new manager can be found.

12. All of the BLADES Commissioner’s decisions are final.

13. Failure to comply with any of these rules will result in having your team roster locked and possible banishment from the league.

14. Joining this league means you understand and agree to these rules and conditions.

All right folks. 6 keepers allowed including one goalie. Deadline is Friday.

Welcome to a new fantasy season!

I hope everyone enjoyed the summer but it's time to hit the ice.

There are two managers who have chosen not to return so if you know of anyone who would like to take over either franchise, let me know.